If someone’s paying you £30k… how are you giving them £30k worth of value?

Posted on: 16 June 2026 in Student experiences

Inside Tom’s LEEP experience with Hustle. Tom is a second-year Marketing student at the University of Liverpool currently working with startup Hustle through the Liverpool Enterprise Experience Programme (LEEP).

He is sharing his experience not necessarily only about the placement itself, but about where he is right now - somewhere between university, work, ambition, and trying to figure out how all of those things fit together.

But when he talks about the experience, he rarely talks about it in the language of “networking” or “career goals”. Instead, he talks about value. About resilience. About realising where your gaps are. About getting older and suddenly understanding that effort actually matters. 

So tell us a little bit about yourself. What does life look like for you at the moment? 

“I’m a second-year Marketing student and, to be honest, I’m mostly just trying to balance everything. I’m trying to go to lectures, do my uni work, but also make myself a bit more employable and upskill outside the classroom because I think that’s really important. 

I’m really interested in entrepreneurship. I find it super interesting. And creativity as well—that’s why I ended up loving marketing. Branding, graphic design, campaigns, all of that stuff.”  

Outside university, “I’m a massive martial arts fan. I’ve been training for like three or four years now. This year I’ve been boxing with the university society, which has been class. 

I like anything active really—boxing, MMA, climbing. And cooking as well. Proper Saturday afternoon, spend ages making one meal kind of cooking.” 

What made you choose Liverpool? 

“The city was probably the biggest factor if I’m honest. I wanted somewhere where there’d be opportunities outside university itself. Liverpool’s massive for loads of my interests — sport, music, boxing, comedy. It just felt like somewhere you could actually build a life while you were studying.” 

Marketing wasn’t his original plan. “I actually started in Media and Communications. Then literally in the first week I switched to Marketing because I just sat there and thought, no, this feels more right. Luckily Liverpool’s got one of the best marketing schools in the country, so it worked out really well.” 

You seem very switched on about careers already. Has that always been the case? 

“No, definitely not. When COVID happened, I was in Year 12 and honestly, I didn’t get very good grades. So I retook the year, got the grades I needed, then travelled before university. I’m technically about two years older than some people in my year now.” 

He pauses slightly before continuing. “But I actually think getting bad grades was important for me. It was a wake-up call. It made me realise that if you don’t apply yourself, that’s the outcome. You fail. That’s just how life works.” 

Reflecting on a moment that quietly shifted his perspective. 

“I think since then I’ve been a lot more aware that I need to make the most of opportunities while I’m here. Because now it feels like you constantly hear about placements, employability, extracurriculars, graduate jobs. It’s everywhere. 

I didn’t want to get to graduation and suddenly have all that career pressure hit me in the face.” 

Before LEEP, had you worked anywhere similar? 

“Not really. I’d done loads of random part-time jobs, but nothing like a proper marketing internship.” “The closest thing was probably door-to-door marketing over summer. 

Honestly, I weirdly recommend it.” 

Why I ask? 

“It’s basically rejection therapy. You spend all day knocking on doors getting told no. But after a while you stop caring and become way more resilient.” 

“When I was applying for placements, people interviewing me actually found it really interesting. We’d end up joking about stories from it and it became a really good way to build rapport. So even though it wasn’t glamorous, it taught me loads.” 

How did your opportunity with Hustle happen? 

“They came into one of my lectures during an entrepreneurship module and I found their story really inspiring. So afterwards I stayed behind, asked loads of questions, followed them on LinkedIn, started engaging with their posts.” 

Tom was already thinking about reaching out himself. “Then literally the morning I was going to message them, one of the founders messaged me first. That was mental.” 

"After a few conversations and sharing some examples of work, the relationship developed naturally. So when the opportunity officially opened, it was a complete no-brainer.” What’s it actually been like working inside a startup? “I’ve loved it honestly. 

I think the best thing is how small it is. There’s literally just two founders, and they’ve both only recently graduated themselves. That closeness matter. 

“You can relate to them because they’re close in age, but at the same time they’ve learned insanely fast because they’ve had to. They’re running a business. 

And they’re really open as well. They don’t gatekeep anything. 

If you ask questions, they’ll properly explain things to you — whether it’s during work, over lunch, or at the end of the day. That kind of knowledge is honestly gold dust.” 

What kind of work have you been involved in? 

“A bit of everything really. They’ve just launched a new product recently, so I’ve seen the whole process behind that — production, suppliers, packaging, distribution, all of it. 

One minute you’re talking about branding, then production, then agencies, then logistics. You realise really quickly how connected everything is.” At times, he admits, it felt overwhelming. “A little bit out of my depth definitely. But honestly, that’s probably the best part because you realise really quickly where your gaps are. 

You go, okay, maybe I’m not learning this in lectures, so now I need to figure it out myself.” 

What’s the biggest thing the experience has taught you? 

Tom starts talking less about tasks and more about mindset. “One of the biggest things was a complete mindset shift. A lot of people think, ‘I’ll eventually earn this amount of money doing marketing.’ 

But then you start seeing how businesses actually work and you realise — if someone’s paying you £30k… how are you giving them £30k worth of value?” “But genuinely, that changed how I think. You realise you’ve got to provide value first.” 

How different practical marketing feel compared to classroom theory? 

“The theory at university is useful — I use it all the time. But practical marketing is very different. You don’t necessarily learn how to structure proper campaigns, organise audiences, build proper emails, all that kind of stuff. I thought I was good at graphic design because I was good at Canva. 

But when you’re working with a real brand and they want genuinely strong visuals, you realise Canva’s just the beginning.” 

Has being around entrepreneurs changed how you think about your own future? 

“Yeah, definitely. Being around people running a business all the time makes you interested in everything around it — not just marketing, but finance as well. 

I was never really into finance before, but after working with these guys, I started realising how important it actually is. So recently I’ve been forcing myself to learn more about it, which I never thought I’d say.” 

The entrepreneurial side was already there before LEEP. The experience just seems to have made it feel more possible.  “You start looking at businesses differently. You start noticing opportunities and gaps and ideas more.” 

What would you say to another student thinking about applying for something like LEEP? 

“I’d honestly just say do it. It’s an unbelievable opportunity to get proper experience while you’re still at university. And even outside something like LEEP, just do something extra. It doesn’t mean becoming obsessed with productivity or giving up your social life. 

But even a few hours a week learning a skill or trying something new makes a massive difference.” “Even if you’re not getting paid loads initially, you’re getting paid in knowledge. And that’s still an investment into your future.”